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Multiple-Meaning Words

A multiple-meaning word is spelled and said the same way but means different things: a bat flies at night, and you hit a ball with a bat. Context is the only clue, which is why these words are such good reading practice.

Here are 120 multiple-meaning words from past ClueBy puzzles, each with a real example sentence for every meaning. Use them as a reference, or make a printable worksheet below.

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Students read each sentence and write the missing word. Every word appears in several sentences, each time with a different meaning.

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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  2. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  3. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  4. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  5. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  6. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  7. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  8. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  9. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  10. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  11. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  12. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  13. The ________________ went through the wall.
  14. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  15. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  16. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  17. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  18. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  19. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  20. The water is too ________________.
  21. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  22. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  23. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  24. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com

Answer key

  1. nail — for a hammer
  2. stick — a piece of wood
  3. hand — help
  4. root — of a word
  5. nail — on a finger
  6. root — the cause
  7. bark — of a tree
  8. fall — the season
  9. fall — to drop
  10. tear — from crying
  11. tear — to rip
  12. bark — a dog's sound
  13. nail — for a hammer
  14. cold — an illness
  15. hand — part of the body
  16. stick — to attach or keep to
  17. root — of a plant
  18. tear — from crying
  19. hand — in cards
  20. cold — not warm
  21. cold — the Cold War
  22. bark — to shout
  23. stick — a piece of wood
  24. fall — to drop

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

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Frequently asked questions

What are multiple-meaning words?

Words with the same spelling and pronunciation but more than one meaning, like bark (of a dog or of a tree) or bank (for money or of a river). You can only tell which meaning is meant from the rest of the sentence.

Are multiple-meaning words the same as homonyms?

Mostly, yes. Teachers often use "multiple-meaning words" and "homonyms" for the same idea. Homophones are different: they sound alike but are spelled differently, like flour and flower.

Are the worksheets free?

Yes. Make and print as many as you like for home or classroom use. Each sheet has its own link, so you can print the same one again.

Where do the words come from?

From past ClueBy puzzles, a daily game where you sort twelve sentences by their missing word. A new puzzle every day adds four more words to this list.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com